Northeast Austin and Travis County residents are invited to weigh in on a new report about the area, as the city and county move forward on a long-term planning project for new development and addressing historic inequities.
The big picture
Years ago, Austin and Travis County leaders jointly voted to collaborate on a Northeast District Plan. The proposal was sponsored by council member Natasha Harper-Madison, who represents the northeastern City Council District 1, and commissioner Jeff Travillion, who represents the northeastern county Precinct 1.
The nearly 30-square-mile district is roughly bounded by US 183, Hwy. 290 and SH 130 north of the Colorado River. It covers a mix of local jurisdictions, leading to the city-county partnership on the planning process that advanced in 2024.
The district initiative was initially promoted as a piece of an east side Marshall Plan, a reference to the post-World War II economic recovery policy for Europe. Officials said the project was needed to guide new investments and growth in the area after decades of historic disinvestment and rising displacement risks.
A report on existing conditions and needs throughout Northeast Austin and Travis County was completed early this year. It covers topics such as transportation, housing, demographics and the job market, and can be viewed online.
While representing just a fraction of the regional population, the district has seen faster recent population growth than Austin or Travis County overall. It's also home to higher shares of Black and Latino residents, a partial result of historic segregationist planning by local governments, per the report.
Other distinguishing characteristics include more single-family housing, as opposed to multifamily development that's more common elsewhere in the community; relatively lower incomes and housing costs; and larger average household sizes. Much of the district area is at displacement risk, and its share of Black households fell by a third from the 2010s to the 2020s while the share of white households nearly doubled.
Get involved
The new report is meant to serve as a basis for next steps in the ongoing planning, and the local governments are soliciting general community input on its contents. Feedback can be submitted online in English and Spanish until July 6.
"This report provides the mapping of assets and a unified picture of the current conditions. We agree that the only way we get the community what it deserves is when we build it together," Travillion wrote in the report. "The next step of meaningful community engagement is critical to setting priorities for our way forward."
The existing conditions report and public survey both come from the collaborative northeastern planning project between the city and county, according to Austin Planning. Harper-Madison called the effort a "critical opportunity" to address historic neglect around East Austin.
"Our goal is to work with East Austin residents to build a shared vision for modern infrastructure, perpetually affordable housing, and economic opportunity," she wrote in the report. "This process is not just about land use. It’s about restoring trust and ensuring that the community members who have long called this area home are centered in decisions that will shape its next chapter."
The initiative is expected to wrap up late next year.
